International Experience of Resource Management in the North

The ongoing changes in the Arctic communities, and the impact of globalization on both resource exploitation and development practices, obviously raises the question of increased need for scientific and engineering efforts on several fronts. It is evident, however, that many of the contemporary problems in the Arctic are not only related to scientific limitations, but very often much more related to the actual economic, social and political conditions. The environmental problems caused by the industrialization process can not be solved by scientific endeavours alone. The strive towards sustainable development requires the linking new economic practices with conditions that make them possible, including a general acceptance among both inhabitants, planners and politicians. Such a linkage between scientific insight, practical experience, and public acceptance is possible through the development of the methodologies of integrated impact assessment related to the evaluation of large scale projects. The need the development of a proper integrated assessment methodology in any long-term Arctic ecology research program is both to serve the needs of the inhabitants of the Arctic, and to respond to other stakeholders in a manner which reflects the seriousness of the current disturbance of the arctic environment. The prime factors in such an integrated assessment is suggested to include: - Arctic resources in the world resource consumption pattern: - Population impact: - Economic impacts: - Distorted economies: - Property rights, resource access and traditional resource usage: - Human resource impact: - Social impact: - Institutional impact: - New settlement patterns Besides raising the general question of the need for research on the environmental and social impact of development in the North, a general question of defining a sustainable practice for the different types of resource utilization characterize the development of the Arctic regions. It is important to focus on the reconciliation between the demands and the needs of economic development and the impacts that it generates among Arctic communities and individuals, as well as the demands and the needs of Arctic communities and individuals with respect to economic development and social and cultural sustainability of communities.